Had enough of the monthly carnival ride of PMS with its cramps, mood swings and bloating? Or maybe you’re riding the wild hormonal waves of perimenopause and menopause, dealing with hot flushes, brain fog and stubborn weight gain.
For generations, we’ve been encouraged to think of these as entirely hormonal problems. But what if a crucial element of the solution were concealed in an unexpected place? What if the key to happier hormones is tucked away in your gut instead?
Emerging science is showing a deep, complex relationship between our gut microbiome – the trillions of bacteria, viruses and other organisms that live in the digestive tract – and our endocrine (or hormonal) system. This relationship is mutual and when it’s out of balance, it can worsen the very hormonal symptoms you’re attempting to address.
The Oestrobolome: Your Gut’s Hormone-Balancing Team
Right there, in your gut microbiome, lives a special community of microbes that carry out a very particular and essential task: regulating oestrogen. This community of microbes is referred to as the Oestrobolome.
Here’s how it works: Your liver metabolises hormones, like oestrogen, and then packages them up to be removed from your body. These hormones are then auctioned off to your gut and excreted. But some of these oestrogen-metabolised molecules end up in your colon too – and only certain good bacteria, known as the Oestrobolome, produce an enzyme that can ‘unwrap’ or reactivate them, which then flow back into your system.
When your gut is healthy and the Oestrobolome is functioning as it should, this process is a finely-tuned system that helps to keep oestrogen levels in check. But when your gut health is compromised – a condition referred to as dysbiosis – this delicate balance is disrupted, and the effect can be dramatic when it comes to PMS and menopause.
The Link to PMS and Cyclical Symptoms
If your Oestrobolome is out of whack, the result may be too much or too little oestrogen being re-circulated. In a number of PMS sufferers, an unhealthy gut may result in the overactivity of the enzyme that unwraps oestrogen. This results in oestrogen excess being reabsorbed back into the bloodstream leading to a condition of ‘oestrogen dominance’.
This hormonal surplus can be one of the fundamental causes behind many typical PMS symptoms such as:
- Crippling cramps and heavy bleeding
- Breast tenderness and swelling
- Dramatic shifts in mood, irritability and anxiety
- Hormonal headaches and migraines
- Painful bloating and digestive upset
By supporting gut health, we can help restore balance to the Oestrobolome which processes and eliminates oestrogen effectively meaning improved monthly periods and less PMS.
Why Gut Health is Crucial During Menopause
The Oestrobolome becomes particularly important when women are going through the menopausal transition. As your ovaries do less and less of the work to produce oestrogen naturally, your body depends more on the recycling work done by your gut bacteria for the few hormones you still have in supply.
By maintaining a robust and diverse microbiome, the drastic fall in oestrogen that underlies the menopause is buffered somewhat – lessening the severity of symptoms. A damaged gut, by contrast, will make a difficult passage still more daunting.
An unhealthy Oestrobolome can be associated with:
- Hot flushes and night sweats that are more severe.
- More likely to get osteoporosis: oestrogen is essential to maintain bone density and gut bacteria are involved in the metabolism of bone.
- Fluctuating moods and brain fog, which can be worsened by gut-induced inflammation.
- Excess weight gain due to menopause, certain gut bacteria have been linked with obesity and inflammation.
A Natural Approach to Gut and Hormonal Harmony
Being a naturopath, my approach has been to look at the overall picture. And in addition to just treating the hormonal symptoms, I help you to address what underlying gut imbalances are contributing to the problem. That’s where a personalised, comprehensive approach comes into its own.
My approach includes:
- Nourishing Your Microbiome: The goal is to give dietary advice that is adapted to you and includes lots of fibre containing plant foods, prebiotics, and probiotics. I also include foods which help to support health oestrogen metabolism, like cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, kale).
- Supporting Liver Detoxification: Your liver is your body’s hormone-processing organ. I employ certain herbs and nutrients to enable your liver to effectively package up hormones for excretion.
- Soothing the Gut Lining: Chronic stress, poor diet and inflammation can create a ‘leaky gut’, which allows toxins into the bloodstream and exacerbates hormonal havoc. I work to heal and seal the gut lining to reduce inflammation at its source.
- Personalised Herbal Support: I formulate a blend tailored to you, whether it’s for digestion, hormonal balance or a soothed nervous system.
You don’t have to play detective on your quest for hormonal balance. When you heal your gut, you are building the cornerstone for balanced hormones and better health.
If you’d like to take control of your hormone health from the inside out, I’d love to hear from you. Book an online consultation with me today.
